My Brother's Story
by Saturnspaz
Summary: Brady's finally a Pokemon trainer, and he's ready for the journey ahead of him. Making friends, battling trainers, and solving mysteries, having fun is what this story's all about! This is a story I made for my brother's birthday. Names have been changed due to privacy reasons. Dear bro, go make your own adventure. Gotta catch em' all!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue **

"Brady, what're you doing up?" His sister questioned as he bounced on the couch.

"I'm too excited!" He exclaimed with the brightest of smiles. "Tomorrow, I'm finally going to be a Pokémon trainer like you!" She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. He had been waiting for this moment for what seemed like forever.

"Well, you don't want to be tired your first day as a trainer, do you?"

"Not really."

"Then you should probably go to bed." He sighed at his sister's comment.

"But I already told you, I can't!" He whined. She smirked, getting an idea.

"How about this, if you go to bed now, I'll give you something special tomorrow." He shot up.

"Like what?"

"It's a surprise." She said putting a finger to her lips. What she said worked, for Brady jumped off the couch and ran into his room.

"Goodnight, sissy!" He yelled before closing the door.

"Goodnight!" She hollered back. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. She her twin giving her a confused look.

"What are you going to give him?" She asked. She smiled and glanced at her sister.

"You'll see." The next day came, and Brady was already getting ready for his journey. He wore a navy blue, short sleeved shirt, with black, long sleeves attached to it. He wore a pair of boot cut jeans with converse sneakers. And finally, a mango orange sweat jacket. When he was content with what he had, he headed downstairs.

"Good morning!" He yelled jumping down the rest of the stairs. Was he on a sugar high or something? His sisters looked at him.

"Good morning, Brady!" One said.

"Well, you look chirpy." The other said. He just smiled at them.

"I need to get going." He said. "My journey awaits!" He did a pose in which his arm was pointed upward in a sort of superman-ish way. They laughed at Brady's enthusiasm.

"You can't leave yet." One sister said.

"Why?"

"You still need you're Pokémon, you dunce!" She stated. He face palmed himself before speaking.

"Right."

"And I still need to give you your gift." The other one said standing up. His face lit up.

"I thought you were messing with me."

"Nope."

"What is it?!" He asked leaping in the air. Both sisters laughed.

"You are such an idiot." She declared. Brady stopped and pouted at his sister.

"I am not!" While his sister led him to pick out his starter Pokémon, the other snuck upstairs to get his gift.

"You did decide which one you wanted, right?" She inquired. He nodded.

"Of course!" He looked at the three Poké balls, and pointed to one in the left corner. "Charmander." She nodded and gave him the Poké ball.

"Following that, here are some Poké balls to get you started." She handed him eight red and white Poké balls. He willingly took them and placed them in his backpack. His eyes were practically glistening with exhilaration. Finally, the day had come.

"Brady!" He heard someone shout. It wasn't a surprise that it was his other sister. "Here." She handed him a small box. It wasn't wrapped or anything, just a box. He opened and looked up at his sister.

"Another Poké ball?"

"Click the button." He did what he was told. And once he did, a brown, dinosaur like animal popped out. He stared in amazement.

"A Cubone?!" He shouted coming to his senses. She nodded.

"Cubone was one of the first Pokémon I ever caught, and now I'm trusting that you'll take good care of him." She said. "Can you do that?" He nodded ferociously.

"Yeah, I'll take very good care of it!" He looked down at the Cubone in front of him. "Um, Cubone, you don't have to worry about me not caring for you. Ok?" Cubone smiled and said, "Cubone!" He smiled back. After saying goodbye, Brady headed out in to the world of Pokémon. His destination, Eterna City. Where he would, hopefully, win his first badge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

"Am I in the right place?" Brady questioned looking at a map. He was in a city, he just wasn't sure if it was where he wanted to go. "This might be Eterna City." He thought. "It's bigger than I thought it would be, though." He walked through the entrance and gawked at the superior city. "Whoa, it must be awesome to live in a place like this." He muttered. Then, he heard a loud commotion near the middle of the street. Huh? Curiosity getting the best of him, he sauntered over to the group of people. He pushed his way to the front.

"Oddish, Chlorophyll now!" He heard a girl shout. Followed by, "Oddish!" After that, he heard a male voice yell, "Totodile, use Sheer Force!" It was a Pokémon battle! He had never seen one up close before. Before he knew it, Oddish was out cold.

"Oddish!" The girl yelled with a pained expression. She pulled out a Poké ball and called Oddish back. They stood up and shook hands. "Good match." She said.

"Yeah, you weren't bad." The man agreed. They then turned around and walked over to the sides.

"Alright, which two trainers are competing next?" A man hollered towards the crowd. Brady couldn't help himself. He ran to the middle of the crowd and stood with a Poké ball in hand. "Looks like we got ourselves a fearless trainer!" He shouted. "Who's brave enough to face this one?" It was a minute or so before someone finally stepped up.

"I'll challenge him." He heard a male voice say. The boy that was facing him looked about the same age as him. He took out a Poké ball from a strap on his belt.

"Get ready to start!" The man shouted. Both boys got in fighting positions. "Ready, set, BATTLE!"

"Alright, Charmander, let's go!" Brady shouted throwing the Poké ball. Once he did, an orange, lizard shaped Pokémon with a flame on its tail shot out.

"Char!" It bellowed. The fiery haired competitor launched his Poké ball with a smirk on his face.

"Cyndaquil, this one's yours!" The freckled boy yelled. Out popped another fire type Pokémon, with flame shooting out from its back.

"Cyndaquil!" It squealed.

"Alright, Charmander, flamethrower!" Brady ordered.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Fire spurted out of its mouth. Almost like it just ate a chili pepper.

"Dodge it, Cyndaquil!" The boy hollered.

"Quil!"

"Flame Charge!" Cyndaquil did as it was told. Brady reacted quickly.

"Charmander, Smokescreen!" A thick fog emanated from the Pokémon's mouth. Cyndaquil halted to a stop as the smoke approached him.

"Cyndaquil, find a way out of the smoke!" He instructed. Cyndaquil ran around looking for an opening….he couldn't find one.

"Charmander, Tackle it!" Brady commanded.

"Char!" Brady's opponent became aware of the situation.

"You Tackle it to Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil and Charmander sprinted to each other like bulls, and once they got close enough, they rammed in to each other with full force.

"Chaaaar!"

"Quiiiil!" They both fell backwards from the force of the hit. However, Cyndaquil was the first one to respond. This was it.

"Charmander, get up, quick!" Brady panicked.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle it again!" He called out. "Then use your Flamewheel!" As Charmander was just getting up, Cyndaquil tackled it to the ground again.

"Chaaaar!"

"Charmander!" While Charmander was down, Cyndaquil used Flamewheel.

"Cynda-QUIIIIIL!" It rolled in to the lizard Pokémon with flames surrounding its body.

"Chaaaaaaar!" As Charmander plummeted to the ground, it lost consciousness. It laid on the ground useless.

"We have a winner!" The man shouted. People cheered and roared as Brady took out his Poké Ball.

"Charmander, return." A red beam shot out of the ball and Charmander disappeared. "I know you did your best, it's alright." He sighed to himself. His first real Pokémon battle, and he lost. He thought this would turn out better, but it was his first time. The winner also called back his Pokémon.

"You did great, Cyndaquil!" He said before the Pokémon vanished. Both trainers walked up to each other and shook hands.

"You're good." He said. "I haven't had a battle like that in a while." Brady smiled.

"That was actually my first battle, it was thrilling!" The trainer stared in amazement.

"Well, that was pretty good for your first time."

"Thanks, if I could, may I ask what your name is." Brady inquired the young trailer.

"It's Mason." He said with a smile on his face. "And yours?"

"Brady." He introduced. "Your Cyndaquil's trained well."

"Thanks." He said. "Your Charmander knew some moves to." Brady smiled almost smugly.

"Thanks."

"Well, it was great battling with you, but I need to get back home." He said waving goodbye. Brady waved back. At least he wasn't one of those trainers that look down on you if you lose. It kind of inspired him in a way. He seriously was a great trainer, but he wanted to be better.

"Alright, now, where's the Eterna City gym?" He wondered. It was a few hours of wandering around in confusion before he found what he was looking for. "The gym!" He exclaimed happily. He sprinted inside the gym, but stopped as he realized one thing. "No one's here?" He thought. "There has to be though, I need to battle the gym leader!" He searched for any sign that someone might be here. Nope. He stomped his foot. "Gosh, darn it!" This just wasn't his day. First, he lost his first real battle. Second, he goes to fight the gym leader, but he/she's not here. He sighed in defeat. "Oh well, guess I'll come back tomorrow." He turned and made his leave; utterly disappointed.

The next day, after finding a hotel to sleep in, he dressed quickly and headed over to the gym. He ran into it again, still no one there.

"Oh, come on!" Now he was agitated. "I just want to get this battle over with!" He sighed, defeated once more. Then, he left the same way he did the other day. It was now noon, and after looking around the city, decided to go back; just to check. While he was walking to the gym, he noticed someone on the side. Black vest, Nike sneakers, fingerless gloves, and red hair. It was the same trainer from yesterday! "Hey!" He yelled to get his attention. The trainer jerked up in slight surprise.

"Oh, it's you." He said. Brady jogged over to Mason, but before he got to close, he heard a fierce growling; which made him halt in his tracks.

"Houndour, chill. I know him." Mason said using a "stop" hand motion. The black and red Pokémon stopped growling at Brady, though he still looked like he didn't like him. "Do you need something? A rematch maybe?" Brady chuckled.

"Maybe some other time." He said. Mason tilted his head.

"Then, what is it?"

"Well, I went to the gym to battle several times, but he/she's never there." He admitted with irritation in his voice. "I was wondering if you knew what was going on by any chance?" He was shocked when he saw the trainer sigh.

"Yeah, she likes to venture off places." He said. "Some of the places she likes to go to are the old chateau, and the villa. You could check for her there." His face sparkled.

"Thanks, dude!" He thanked shaking his hand.

"No problem." Brady ran off pulling out the map.

"Ok, according to the map, the chateau is on this route." He planned. He put the map back in his pocket. "Let's get going!" After an hour or so of running, and sometimes getting lost, he finally found the chateau. He stared up in amazement and dread. There was no way he was going in that creepy place. Why would anyone go in there anyway? That's like, immediate death. He settled for skimming the outside. No trainer here. So, he pulled out his map to find the villa. "Back in town?!" He complained. It would've been easier to check there first. Guess he wasn't being very smart at the moment. He began running again, even if he didn't want to. He had to get that badge. He just _had_ to. Once he found the villa, he entered the villa in hopes he'd find the gym leader. After browsing, he finally found a women with short, orange and black hair.

"Excuse me." He asked taping her shoulder. She turned around after feeling the tap.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"You don't happen to be the leader of Eterna City's gym, are you?" He questioned the women. She smirked.

"I am, in fact." Oh my gosh, FINALLY! It only took, like, forever! Brady's expression turned from relief to serious.

"Well then, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

"If you feel like losing that bad, challenge accepted." She said. "But, we should do it in a more appropriate setting." After the fancy transition, they appeared at Eterna City's gym. Gardenia, the gym leader, pulled out her first Poké ball.

"Cherubi, go!" She threw the ball as a cherry looking Pokémon came out. In that case….

"Alright, Charmander, let's go!" He called out summoning the flame lizard again.

"Char!"

"Cherubi, use Magical Leaf!" Leaves levitated off the ground, then attacked.

"Dodge it, Charmander!" Charmander jumped. "Flamethrower, now!" On cue, flame spurted out of Charmander's mouth.

"Chaaaar!"

"Cherubi, dodge. Then tackle it!" She instructed. It did as it was told.

"Dodge!" Brady yelled, but was too late. Charmander was struck.

"Chaaaaaar!" It yelped.

"Now, Solar Beam!" Charmander was struck with the beams. K.O.

"Charmander, return!" He said. He only had one more Pokémon left, he was getting worried.

"Cubone, let's go!" He shouted. He threw his last Pokémon into battle. The dinosaur popped out and stood front and center.

"Cubone, bone, bone." It said. Gardenia called back her Pokémon as well. When she threw her Poké ball, a turtle with leaves on its head shot out and said, "Turtwig!" Crap, he knew she would have more, but her Pokémon were probably a lot more experienced. Plus, a lot more powerful. He couldn't give up now though, he had to give it his all. If not, what would all of this mean?

"Cubone, Bonemerang!" As told, Cubone took his bone and threw it at the opponent.

"Dodge it, then use Razor Leaf!" Turtwig dodged the attack and used its razor leaf. The leaves hit Cubone square in the face.

"Cubone!" Brady wailed. "Come on, get up!" Even if he was injured, he stood up and continued fighting.

"Tackle it, Turtwig!" She yelled. Brady reacted, maybe a little too quickly.

"Cubone, run and head-butt it, now!"

"Cubone!" Both rammed in to each other with full force. Turtwig's a little stronger though.

"Cuuuuubone!"

"Cubone!" Brady screamed. Crap, his sister gave him that Pokémon, he couldn't let the Pokémon overdue himself! He needed to do something, but what. Dang it, he most likely wasn't thinking when he did this. After thinking, Brady ran in to the middle of the battle and comforted Cubone. He lost fair and square, Cubone was knocked out.

"Finish it, Turtwig!" Following its master's orders, it charged towards both Brady and his Pokémon. His eyes went wide; she was still attacking?! Going with his instincts, he braced for impact. However, nothing came. What happened? Wasn't he just about to get tackled by that Turtwig? He decided to sneak a peek at what happened, and once he did, was utterly shocked at the sight before him.

"M-Mason?" He questioned to no one in particular. Mason just simply turned and smiled.

"Mason, what are you doing?!" Gardenia shouted. "You should know that you don't interrupt a trainer's battle!" Mason glared at the gym leader.

"You could've killed this guy's Pokémon!" He scolded. The leader flinched.

"Mason," Brady spoke up again. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." He answered in an almost disappointed tone. Brady gaped.

"What?!"

"Yeah, Gardenia's my aunt." Holy, what the what? Mason was the gym leader's nephew?! And he just protected him from getting injured? They had just met the other day; why did he come in to a battle that wasn't even his?

"Mason, this battle needs to be finished." She said. "Move out of the way." He refused.

"This battle's already finished." He said turning his back towards her and looking at the trainer below him. He held out his hand, offering to help him up. Brady just stared for a minute, maybe two. He then took Mason's hand, which he was then brought back to his feet.

"Thanks." Was all he could think of saying. The boy in front of him smiled and nodded. As if saying, "No problem."

"I'm sorry my aunt nearly murdered your Pokémon." He apologized.

"You don't need to apologize, you didn't do anything." He said. With that, he called Cubone back into his Pokéball. "Anyway, I lost before that. I'll have to try again some other time." He admitted sadly; after that, he turned and walked away from the gym. So much for getting his first badge. He went back to the hotel and started packing his stuff back in his backpack. In the process, he sighed disappointed. "I came all the way here, and I couldn't even earn a badge." He muttered. "What a rip-off." As he slung his bag over his shoulder, he made his way out of Eterna City. While walking towards the entrance, he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey, Brady!" He turned around to see the red haired boy from before.

"Mason, what do you need?" He inquired.

"You forgot this." He held out something tiny with little green triangles.

"The- the Forest Badge?!" He stuttered. "How'd you get that?!" He smirked deviously.

"I might've taken it when she was distracted."

"But, she's your aunt…..right?"

"Tsk, it's not like I'm fond of her." He scoffed. "Anyway, this is yours." Brady blinked in surprise.

"I-it's mine?!" He sputtered. "But, I didn't earn it; I lost!"

"Yeah, but Gardenia went over the line." He said. "Take it, really. It was one of the best fights I've ever seen." Brady smiled and took the badge.

"Thanks." He said. Then, Mason rubbed the back of his head shyly. Brady noticed this and spoke. "Was there something else?" With that, Mason stood tall in a fake bravely manor.

"If you'll let me, I would like to travel with you!" Brady's eyes widened, and Mason glanced down at his Houndour. "We both would." He chuckled at his words, Brady did too. "We were watching your battle with Gardenia, and….." His words trailed off. "…and we saw you run out to comfort your Pokémon. It was a beautiful image." He admitted with his cheeks tinted red. Brady didn't know what to say, or how to answer. With some thought, he decided on what he wanted to do.

"Sure, you can tag along!" Mason looked up at Brady hopefully. "I mean, you seem like a cool guy." It was then that Brady lifted his hand and formed a fist. A 'fist pump' some people call it. The red head in front of him laughed.

"Yeah, alright." Mason copied Brady's hand and their fists clashed. As they left the wondrous city known as Eterna, Brady realized that he not only earned his first badge, but he also befriended a fellow trainer like himself. And as they ventured off into the forest, a new adventure began.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

"Where are we?" Brady questioned. It seemed like days, and it probably was; they had seen a few nights pass by. Mason took out a map from his bag.

"Um…..that's a good question." Flipping the map in different ways. Brady groaned.

"Are we seriously lost?!" Mason stayed quiet. Then, Brady gave him the, "Are you serious?" Look.

"Hey, I'm not happy about it either!" He yelled.

"You're the one that told us to go this way!" As they continued their pathetic argument, the clouds became painted a terrifying shade of grey. Sooner than later, they both paused at the sudden wetness they both felt. They looked up at the sky, and finally noticed how dark the sky had become. Then, it started pouring; like the sky just dumped an ocean on their heads.

"R-rain?!" Mason shouted shielding his head. Brady did the same.

"Oh, not now!"

"Come on, Houndour!" They sprinted as fast as they could; too bad they didn't realize it just made it worse. "We need to find a place to stay!" The red trainer hollered.

"You think I don't know that?!" Brady hollered back. By this time, they were soaked. "Do you even know where were going?!"

"Of course not!" He bellowed. "And at this point, it doesn't matter! We just need to-"He was cut off by a sudden thud.

"Mason?" The thing was, the thud came from him. "Mason!" There laid Mason, face first in the mud. Brady ran to his aid. "Are you alright?!" He propped himself up and wiped the mud off his face.

"Ew, yeah I'm fine. Just…..what did I trip over?"

"Your own feet?" Brady snickered. Mason sent him a glare.

"No! I tripped over an object!"

"Or, a person." Mason raised an eyebrow, and saw how pale his face had gotten. He turned his head and faced the direction the other was facing. His face paled also.

"Oh my gosh!" He shrieked. They both saw a body laying helplessly in the rain.

"Is he alive?!" Mason put his ear against the body's mouth.

"His breathing's faint." He said. "We need to get him to a hospital."

"How?!" Brady asked. "We don't even know where we are! How are we going to get him to a hospital?!"

"Well, we at least need to find a place to stay!" He roared. "Houndour, go find a place where we can get out of the rain." Houndour nodded and ran off, following its master's orders. "Alright, Brady, help me out." They went to different sides of the body.

"On three?" He questioned.

"On three. One, two,"

"Three." They hoisted up the body and started carrying it. "Where now?"

"Keep walking, we'll run in to Houndour eventually." As they carried the body, they finally heard Houndour's bark. "Did you find something?" Mason asked his Pokémon. It nodded and bolted away from them. "Come on, we need to follow him!" After that, they had finally found Houndour and the shelter he had found.

"A barn? In the middle of nowhere?" Brady inquired.

"It's probably abandoned." Mason replied. "Come on, we need to get inside."

"You don't have to tell me twice." As they struggled to get inside the building, they also tried their best to not injure the half-dead person. Once they got inside, they put the body down carefully. "Alright, now what?" He asked. Mason took his bag off of his shoulders and set it on the ground.

"He's hurt, we need to treat him."

"Are you serious?!" He asked dumbfounded. "We don't know how to deal with this sort of thing!"

"We can't let him die!"

"I know that, but I don't want to hurt him anymore than he is!"

"We have to try!" He said determined. "Here, start wiping off the mud; I'll bandage him up." Brady couldn't refuse at this point. He grabbed the rag and gently dabbed the wounds. When he got to the face, he noticed that it was in fact a boy around his and Mason's age. His skin was dark, and he looked like he was hurt pretty bad.

"Mason, do you have an idea of what could've happened?" Brady inquired. He shook his head.

"Maybe he got in fight."

"Or, maybe it wasn't a fight at all."

"A Pokémon?" As they skimmed through options, the boy's eyes began to flutter open.

"Huh, what happened?" He thought. "Did I die?" While his vision was blurred, he tried to pick out certain details. He could hear splashing, most likely rain, but he didn't feel it. He heard the pitter patter of rain on a roof. He wasn't inside last time he remembered, so why was he now?

"That can't be it. It wouldn't make sense." Talking; was someone else here? He didn't remember anyone being around. Then, his vision became clearer. Two? There were…..two people? Why were they here? He saw one with brown hair react. "Oh, he's awake!" He proclaimed a little too happily.

"I told you he wasn't dead!" The other mentioned while smacking the other's arm.

"Ow, you don't need to slap me!" He said irritated. He then looked back at the boy below with solicitous eyes. "Are you ok? Do you remember anything?" Did he know him? He couldn't recall meeting either of them.

"Who, why, what?" He couldn't even get a proper sentence out. Mason and Brady mentally face palmed themselves. The guy didn't know them, it's no wonder he's confused as heck.

"Right; well, to start, my name's Brady." He introduced. "And this is Mason. We saw you lying on the ground and brought you here."

"What happened to you?" Mason questioned.

"More importantly, _who _are you?" Brady asked. By now, everyone was sitting up looking at one another.

"Jazir." He answered. "I live on the outskirts of Canalave City."

"What happened?" Mason inquired. "You were laying in the middle of nowhere!" His face then turned into a grimace.

"Calix." He growled. Mason and Brady looked at each other confusedly.

"Who's Calix?"

"Calix and his gang; they always go around stealing other people's Pokémon!"

"Does he live around here?" Brady wondered.

"Yeah, that's the bad thing about living out here. You're prone to it."

"Did they take your Pokémon too?" Mason asked Jazir in a questionable way. He nodded. After that, the two travelers decided that at this point, it was time to get serious. "Do you know where they hide out?"

"Of course I do." Jazir answered furrowing his eyebrows. "I stalked them once or twice." Brady and Mason looked at each other and nodded.

"Can you take us there?" Brady asked.

"What?" Jazir said. "Are you guys crazy?! You two are trainers to, right? They'll take yours too."

"We want to help you get your Pokémon back." Mason said. Jazir stared at them like they had just come out of a mad house. They just met him, why would they want to help in any sort of way?

"You guys are crazier than I thought.'' He announced turning his head.

"What? You don't believe us?" Brady questioned. "We carried you to shelter and treated your wounds! I think that'd be enough for you to trust us!"

"Brady calm down!" Mason whispered. "He just met us, you can't blame him." Brady nodded hesitantly. They waited for what seemed like hours, until Jazir finally answered.

"Fine. What do you have in mind?" It was quiet; as if he didn't fully trust his decision. Then, Mason saw a side of Brady he didn't know he had. Brady's expression went dark, and he started to snicker.

"We scare them." Both blinked and looked at each other. Was this going to be ok? "But first…we need someone to be bait."

"I vote for the guy with the red pants." Mason, in realization, realized he was talking about him.

"Me? Why me?!" He inquired. Jazir pointed at his Houndour.

"You have a Houndour, do you know how many people would want one of those?" He asked. "It's perfect." Mason sweat dropped.

"I guess that means I'm going to have to let you get taken." He mentioned sadly, petting Houndour's head.

"Alright, now go!" Brady said pushing Mason out the door.

"Wait, what do I do after they take him?!"

"I'm not telling you, it would be too obvious!" Brady said closing the door. "Just start walking!" Mason and Houndour stood outside the door as it continued to rain. He sighed.

"Alright, guess we have no choice." He said shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go Houndour." Then, they started walking off in no particular direction. "Where are we supposed to go?" Houndour shrugged, and Mason groaned. "I hate being bait, I hate it!" He mumbled. "Because I have a Houndour my butt, you were just too scared to go!" Before getting any further, his foot got caught on something. "Wha-AAAAHHH!" He shrieked. He was yanked up and was left hanging from a tree branch. "What the heck? Why am I-"He wondered. "Houndour, a little help, please?"

"Well, what do we have here?" Mason looked down, or technically up sense he's upside down, to see a guy with sandy blonde hair, a baseball cap pulled backwards, and a purple and black jacket. Mason looked at the guy, suspiciously.

"Are you Calix by any chance?" He asked squinting his eyes. The guy smirked.

"I am, and how do you know me? I'm not that popular around here as it is." Mason gulped, and the guy started laughing. "You're fun to mess with, maybe I should take you along." He looked around to see more guys trying to capture Houndour. "Maybe if we take you…" He grabbed Mason's face and forced him to look at him. "…your Houndour will follow." After that, he started to untie Mason, but began tying him back up.

"Wait, what are you doing? Let me go!" He shouted squirming. _"This wasn't supposed to happen!" _Calix started dragging Mason across the muddy ground. From a distance, Brady and Jazir were watching the whole thing occur.

"Well, that didn't go as planned." Brady stated. Jazir nodded. "Well, looks like we're going with plan B."

"You thought of a plan B?" Jazir questioned. Brady snickered evilly, and Jazir flinched.

"There's always a plan B." Going back to Mason, he was tied up and locked in a room of some sort.

"Well, this is great." He mumbled talking to himself. "Not only was I taken, but they took Houndour too. Yeah, great idea Brady!" He looked around the room, was there a way to cut the ropes? "It's too dark, I can't see anything!"

"This Houndour's well trained." One of the gang members said. "That kid's definitely had it for a while."

"Well, put it with the others." Calix ordered. "We'll be on our way soon anyway." At that moment, the lights started to flicker on and off. "Darn it, someone go fix the lights!"

"I got it." The guy went into a room to check the lights. "Hm, they seem fine to me." And with that, he walked out of the room and back to where the rest of the gang was. Once he got back, the lights started to flicker again.

"I told you to fix them!" Calix shouted. The guy raised his arms up in defense.

"I did! They're perfectly fine!" He yelled. From within the closet, or whatever room it was, Mason was sitting there; not knowing what else he could do. He sighed.

"They better not be doing anything to Houndour!" He mentally scolded. Then, he heard a commotion from beyond the door. "What the?" He listened closely. What was going on? It almost sounded as if they were being attacked, or something like that anyway. He backed away, the best he could, until he ran into the wall. Then, he saw the doorknob start to turn; he braced for impact.

"Hey, there you are!" He opened one eye, and saw a boy with hazel eyes approach him.

"Oh my gosh, Brady, don't do that!" Brady laughed at his choice of words.

"Let's get you out of here, yeah?" He started untying the red head. "Sorry about this, it wasn't supposed to happen." He said after the rope fell off.

"It's fine; I mean, I was mad at you, but I figured as much." They walked out of the room, and when they did, Mason was attacked by an ecstatic Houndour. "Houndour, you're alright!" He exclaimed happily. Houndour started licking his face, and he started laughing. "Hey, cut it out!" Once Houndour climbed off, he stood up and glanced around the room. "Where's the one kid?" Brady pointed to a corner, where Jazir was with three Pokémon. Most likely his.

"Treeko, Wurmple, Meditite, you guys are ok!" He was glomped with hugs by the Pokémon, and he accepted them all. They couldn't help but smile.

"I have to say, I didn't expect any of this to happen, but I'm glad it did." Brady admitted watching the scene before them.

"Yeah, shall we go?" He questioned. "I think we did all we could here." Brady nodded.

"Yeah, let's go." And with that, they left the hideout and went back to the barn. "It's too bad we can't leave because of the rain." Brady said as they laid down on the ground.

"Yeah, but it's dark anyway. It would be safer if we stayed here for the night." Mason said.

"Yeah." Brady agreed. Before they got to comfortable, they heard the barn door open, and the sudden chill of the wind. They shot up to see the boy from before. "Jazir, you're back!" He said. "Here, I might have an extra blanket for you to use." He grabbed his bag and started to scrimmage through it. "Ah, here!" He stood up and walked over to the chocolate eyed boy. Then, he wrapped the blanket around the boy's shoulders. "This should keep you warm for tonight!"

"Yeah, thanks." He said. Brady smiled at him and walked back over to his area of the barn.

"We can all leave in the morning, but for now, let's get some sleep." They all nodded and went to sleep. Except for Jazir, who was up all night thinking; about what? They'll find out soon. The next morning, Brady and Mason were up and getting ready. Mason stretched and groaned.

"I will never be able to sleep like that again!" He complained.

"Yeah, well, I didn't get the best sleep either." He said stretching. After the complaining, he picked up his bag and said, "Alright, let's go."

"Wait!" They turned around to see Jazir. "Thanks, you know, for last night." He thanked sort of awkwardly.

"Hey, no problem!" Brady said.

"Yeah, it was fun anyway." Says the guy that was kidnapped last night.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you." Brady said. "Unfortunately, we have somewhere we need to go, so see ya."

"Wait!" They turned around again. "Maybe I could, you know…tag along?" He said not looking them in the eye. They looked at each other and nodded.

"I think you can come along." Mason and Brady agreed.

Awesome! I mean, yeah thanks." Mason and Brady laughed, and then, they were well on their way. In conclusion, not only did Brady defeat Calix's gang, but he also earned the trust of a new companion. It just goes to say that one helpful deed can go a long way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Along the way, the three boys decided to stop and rest before continuing.

"Hey, Mason, update." Brady said feeding Cubone and Charmander. Mason pulled out the map and looked.

"We're close to a town known as Floaroma Town." He said. "We should be able to get there in…about half an hour." He went back to feeding his Pokémon.

"Cool, we should head there after lunch." They all agreed with Brady's statement. So, after they had fed their Pokémon, and ate themselves, they got back on the road and headed towards Floaroma Town. About thirty minutes later, they finally found the town Mason told them about. "Finally, we're here!" Brady gasped with hands in the air.

"Yeah, maybe we can sleep somewhere other than the ground!" Jazir suggested. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"That would be nice." Mason said. "I miss sleeping on a bed." They all nodded once more.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Right!" Then, all at the same time, they ran into the small town. Meanwhile, someone somewhere in the distance watched them curiously. From the inside, Mason, Brady, and Jazir glanced around Floaroma Town; nothing to extreme, but it was a fairly nice town.

"Not too shabby." Brady said.

"Yeah, it's alright." Jazir commented.

"We should probably get checked in to a hotel." Mason advised. "All of us have been wanting to sleep in a bed again." They all nodded in agreement. After they did all they needed to do, they explored the new town. The people were friendly, and they found a few Pokémon trainers while they were at it. "Well, what do we do now?" Mason asked to no particular person.

"Aw, no way!" They heard Brady shout.

"What?" Jazir inquired. Brady pointed to a poster on the side of a building.

"There's a carnival here somewhere!" He exclaimed excitedly. "We should check it out!" Mason and Jazir looked at each other, and then back at Brady. When they saw the pleading look in their friend's eyes, how could they say no? They sighed, defeated.

"Alright." Mason said. Brady jumped up in the air excited.

"Yes! Let's go!" He shouted. He dashed away, and Mason and Jazir had to chase him the whole way. It took them some time, but they finally found what they were looking for. "Amazing!" He shouted. "This looks so cool, let's go inside!" He was really enthusiastic about this wasn't he? They went inside and just started to stare. Obviously, it was more active at night, but it was phenomenal to look at. All of the colors that were mixed together just gave the scene life.

"Wow, I thought it would be one of those crappy carnivals, but it's actually not that bad." Mason admitted. From beside him, Houndour turned around and started to growl. Mason noticed this immediately. "Houndour, what's up?"

"Arf, arf!" It barked, and ran towards one of the activity booths.

"Eh, Houndour!" Mason yelled following close behind. Brady and Jazir had no choice but to follow, so they caught up with the red head.

"Hey, stop, let go!" They heard as they were trying to find their friend's mutt. When they appeared at the scene, they were shocked to see what was in front of them. Houndour had a kid in his mouth. Not like that, he was dragging him from his shirt collar. "Let go of me!" The boy yelled angrily.

"Houndour, drop him." Mason ordered; it did as it was told, and the boy flopped to the ground. Mason bent down to the Pokémon's height. "What's your problem? Why'd you attack this guy?" At that moment, the Pokémon started explaining to its master why he did what he did. Mason blinked at the explanation. "He was…following on us?" He asked checking to see if he heard that right. Houndour nodded. After that, Jazir pointed at the brown eyed kid and shouted,

"Alright, who are you, and why were you stalking us?!" Jazir didn't look to happy about the whole situation at hand. The boy started messing with his fingers.

"Well, uh, that's because, um…" He tried; soon after, they heard another voice from a distance.

"Yo, Caleb, did you find anything about-"But the guy finally stopped once he saw the three figures before him. "-Oooooooohhhhhhh crap." Jazir pointed at him next.

"Who are you and why do you sound like you knew he was stalking us?!" He shouted. "And why he was!" The kid, known as Caleb, stood up.

"Calm down, alright? We'll-"He started, but was interrupted by both Jazir and Brady.

"WE DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU PEOPLE, SO THERE WAS ABSULUTLY NO REASON FOR YOU GUYS TO BE TOTAL CREEPAZOIDS!" They screeched in synch. Mason sighed and glared at the two "stalkers."

"Guess there's only one way to settle this." He grumbled. Before the two unknown boys could speak or argue, Mason pulled out a Pokéball and threw it into the open. "Charmeleon, this one's yours!" He hollered. From where he threw the ball, an orange/red chameleon Pokémon appeared before them.

"Charmeleon!" It screeched. Brady pulled out one of his.

"So, it's a battle, huh?" He said as he threw his ball beside Mason's. "In that case, Cubone, let's go!" Cubone popped out from the Pokéball.

"Cubone, bone, bone!" Jazir then grabbed one of his; pumped to be doing a battle.

"Let's show them whose boss, Treeko!" He threw the ball to the field, and the green, gecko Pokémon appeared. The two opponents stared at each other.

"Guess we have no choice." The black haired boy said as he reached into his pocket. "Croagunk, Cacnea, take'em down!" As he threw the two Pokéballs into the field, an indigo, frog Pokémon, and a green, cactus –like- Pokémon came out. Brady stared at them in confusion.

"What are those two?" He wondered.

"Croagunk and Cacnea." He turned towards Mason, who was the one that spoke. "Croagunk's a poison and fighting type, and Cacnea's a grass and dark type. If they're trained right, they can be beyond powerful." The guy's partner sighed.

"If I have to." He then swiftly grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and tossed it along with his friend's. "Let's do this, Staravia!" Once it hit the ground, a grey/white bird appeared in front of them.

"Staravia!" It bellowed. All were in fighting stances, ready for the battle they were about to hold.

"Treeko, quick attack, now!" Jazir commanded. Treeko followed its master's orders and ran towards one of the opponents.

"Cacnea, dodge it. Then, use leech seed!" He ordered. Cacnea did as it was told, but before the battle could get very far, they were stopped by a man in a suit and tie.

"Hey, what are you kids doing?!" They all stopped what they were doing and looked at the man. "Pokémon battles are not allowed in this place; this is a carnival, not a battle stadium." He scolded. They all sighed in frustration.

"Charmeleon, return."

"Cubone, return."

"Treeko, return."

"Cacnea, Croagunk, return."

"Staravia, return." Red beams shot out from the balls and all of the Pokémon returned to their Pokéballs.

"Now, I don't want to see any of your Pokémon again, do I make myself clear?" They all nodded with "Yes sir," or just "Yes." And the man walked away satisfied with the answer.

"Well, that was great." Jazir mumbled.

"We still don't know why you guys were following us." Brady mentioned, and his brown friend went bonkers.

"That's right; I was supposed to kick your butt!" Again, he got ticked off easily. Caleb raised his hands in defense.

"If you let us explain, we'll tell you why we were." They looked at each other, looking for a face of disapproval. They all basically agreed with each other. After that, they went somewhere more appropriate for this sort of conversation.

"First off, what are your names?" Brady asked the two sitting across from them.

"I'm Nate, and this is Caleb." He one in the black and red shirt said. "And you guys are?"

"My name's Brady, and these are my friends Mason and Jazir." He introduced.

"Hey." Mason said.

"Sup." Jazir said. "Now, to the main reason we're having this conversation." His face became more serious than it was before.

"Right, well, you see, the carnival that we were just at." Caleb started.

"Yeah." They all leaned in wanting to hear his reasoning.

"It's sort of…haunted." He said sort of awkwardly.

"Haunted?" Brady repeated. "So what, that doesn't explain why you followed us."

"Actually, it does." Nate chimed in. "Everyone in this town is, like, hypnotized every time they step inside that place. We're the only ones that haven't fallen in its trap." He said referring to Caleb and him. They looked at each other.

"Well, I think that sounds pretty cool." Jazir admitted. "I mean, if you think about it that would be beyond awesome."

"Well, it's not." Caleb said. "Once nighttime comes, it's like everyone's a zombie, or something!"

"We thought since you guys were heading there, you would be possessed too, but it didn't affect you guys at all." Nate explained.

"Is that a good thing?" Mason inquired.

"Yeah."

"Ok, good." Caleb decided to finish his friend's words.

"Since it's getting dark now, we decided to investigate the place once it opened for the night." He explained further. "Would you guys like to help?" Both Mason and Jazir looked at Brady.

"What?" He asked.

"It's your decision." Jazir said. "I mean, you are like the leader of our group…or something like that." Brady thought about it.

"Sure, why not?" He agreed.

"Sweet; I guess the _Ghost Busters _are on the case!" Nate yelled putting his fist in the middle of the table. (Brofist) They all went along with it and bumped their fists together. Later on that night, the five of them entered the carnival knowing what they were going to do.

"Alright, until twelve, act like you're having fun and don't look suspicious." Caleb whispered to them.

"Right." They all said.

"Now, split up!" Nate shouted. They did as they were told.

"Ok, what do you guys want to do first?" Brady asked Jazir and Mason.

"How about that one?" Jazir pointed to some random booth that was set up. Since they were supposed to be doing stuff for an hour or so, they decided to check it out just for the sake of it.

"What's it even about?" Brady inquired. "You know, like, how do you play?"

"It looks like you have to knock down all of the pins, and then after, you win a Pokémon or something."

"Oh, cool! I want to play!" Brady said grabbing a ball. "Heck, if I could get a Pokémon without using one of my balls, that's a pretty nice deal."

"In that case, count me in!" Both Jazir and Brady joined the game. Brady looked behind to look at Mason.

"Hey, you playing?" He shook his head.

"They're all water types; I only train fire type Pokémon." He explained. Brady simply shrugged.

"Whatever you say." As they continued to play the game, they both ended up losing.

"Aaawwww!" Brady whined.

"Darn it!" Jazir shouted as he slammed his fist on the wood. Then, the wood came loose and knocked one of the Pokémon straight at them.

"Aahh!" Brady and Jazir ducked, leaving it to hit Mason in the face.

"Ow!" He yelped holding his face. The Pokémon fell to the ground, but so did one of Mason's Pokéballs. When it flopped, it hit the ball, and it accidently got captured. Mason's face paled once he realized what happened. "Hu-huh?!" Meanwhile, Jazir and Brady were cracking up laughing.

"Hahaha, looks like you caught a Feebas, Mason!" Brady chuckled.

"Yeah, nice face bro!" Jazir mocked. Though, Mason was NOT amused with what had just happened.

"One of you take it!" He said shoving the ball in their face. "I don't want it!"

"Nope, it's your ball; you keep it!" Brady said pushing the ball away.

"Brady's right; it's yours now!" They continued to laugh at the situation at hand, and Mason continued to scowl at them. However, all stopped what they were doing when they heard a, "Dong, Dong, Dong." They all turned towards the sound; it was twelve 'o clock. They all looked around, and saw that everyone had froze…literally. No one was moving, or showing any sign of emotion. They were like…statues.

"What the heck." Brady whispered.

"Man, they weren't kidding!" Mason also whispered. "We need to find them!" After that, they went on a search for Caleb and Nate; in hopes they didn't get frozen too.

"Caleb, Nate!" They called out.

"Over here!" They turned towards the sudden call, and saw Caleb waving; motioning them over. They sprinted to them and knelt down.

"Alright, we're here." Jazir said. "What now?"

"We investigate." Nate answered, maybe a little more excitement in his voice than he should.

"Yeah, but where?" Brady asked. "What would be the most likely place where something like this could occur?" They were all silent, thinking. Until, all of them whitened at the thought. The answer to Brady's question. Then, all of them glanced over at…the house of mirrors. "Oh…that's where." Brady muttered. They all nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jazir asked trying to sound tough. "Let's go." They all followed because they had no choice. Once they got inside, they just stared. Pitch dark, corridors, and stairs that lead to another hallway of mirrors.

"Ok, Caleb's with me, and you guys are with Brady, ok?" Nate said.

"Alright." Then, the two teams went their ways. The floors creaked, and it didn't make it any better that it was so dark.

"Man, I can't see anything! Did the lights bust or something?" Jazir criticized.

"Hold on, I got it." Brady said; he pulled out the classic red and white ball and pressed the button. "Charmander, let's go."

"Char!" Brady knelt down to his Pokémon.

"Charmander, lead the way!" The Pokémon nodded and started walking. There were mirrors hung on every wall. Some were normal, and some were just the strangest looking things you could ever see.

"Man, this is so eerie!" Mason stated. "The reflection in the mirrors are so dark!" Suddenly, Brady had a bad feeling. The feeling of someone, or _something _watching him. He turned around quickly; nothing.

"Dude, you ok?" Jazir questioned. Brady started to tense up, but turned around, nonetheless.

"Yeah, just my imagination!" Brady snickered. As they continued walking, all of them started to hear sounds. Just usual noises; like moaning and groaning. They all shivered. "Anyone else hear that?" Brady asked. Both Mason and Jazir nodded. Then, they all shakily, and slowly, turned their heads to looks at one of the mirrors. In the reflection, right behind them, was a grayish fog. With a skull and a glowing red eye.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all screamed. Heck, even Charmander did it. Then, without a second thought, ran through the hallways and out of the building. Once they got out, they all stopped to catch their breath.

"*sigh* Charmander *sigh* return." Brady heaved. A red beam shot out and Charmander was gone.

"What *sigh* what was that?!" Jazir wondered.

"I *sigh* I have no *sigh* idea." Brady muttered. "Mason?"

"Don't look at me." He sighed. "I don't *sigh* know either." Then, they heard two other screams, and then they felt two people run into them. All fell to the ground.

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

"Oof!"

"Gah!"

"Hey!" They all yelled something different.

"Nate, Caleb?" Mason inquired. They sat up and looked at the others. "Did you guys see it too?" They nodded, quivering.

"It was like a skull with fog coming out of it!" Nate explained. Caleb pointed to his eye.

"And it had ONE glowing eye!"

"We saw that to!" Jazir said. "We saw the reflection!" Suddenly, they all saw Brady stand up.

"I'm going to get a better look at what it is." He said determined. "Even if I'm scared out of my mind." They saw him shakily starting to walk inside. Then, Mason and Jazir stood up.

"Wait up!" No turning back now. As they continued to walk, they started to feel the same feeling as they did before. Brady placed his hand on a Pokéball, ready for what was to come. Once he thought it was close enough, he turned around. Catching it off guard. He threw the ball, and it hit the thing straight in the head. It fell to the ground. _*beep* *beep* *beep* _They all watched the ball curiously; would it stay, or would it pop back out and scare the living crap out of them? Then, what they had hoped for, it stopped. They all grew excited at what happened.

"I caught it." Brady said. "I actually caught it!"

"Way to go, dude!" Jazir congratulated.

"Yeah, by you doing that, that proved that it was some sort of Pokémon." Brady smiled a smug smile.

"Thanks!" The next day, everything went back to normal. People weren't zombies anymore, and the carnival went back to being what it should. Fun. At the entryway, Nate and Caleb were seeing the three friends off.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for one more day?" Caleb insisted.

"Sorry, but we have places to go to." Brady said. "We'll be sure to visit though!"

"You better!" Nate shouted. "Or else, you'll be kicked in the face by yours truly!" They all laughed.

"Well, thanks for the help." Caleb thanked. "And good luck with that new Pokémon of yours!"

"Thanks, well we should be going." He said. They just stood there for a while, and then they all hugged each other.

"See you guys soon." Mason said caught in the grip. Once they let go, the three turned around and went away from their two new friends. And so, even though Brady had to leave another town behind, he did have some good come out of it. By capturing a new Pokémon (which is Duskull), and two new friends he'll look forward to seeing. Now, Brady, Jazir, and Mason have another adventure to look forward to.


End file.
